Sick and such

Not feeling all that great the past couple of days, some kind of upper respiratory thing. Not fun. Anyhoo, going to get some kind of light cardio in tonight and see how I feel aftwards. With a little over a month to go I think the next couple of weeks are the most critical, so we'll just have to wait and see. Stinks cuase I think I gained a pound or two over thanksgiving! ;-)

First snow for us in CT this morning, nothing that will last or hang out, but cool nonetheless.

Happy Thanksgiving

Best wishes to all the Team Voicers out there. Have a happy and safe holiday and keep the foot on the gas with your training....not too many days left...

Frigid..

It's a bit nippy here in CT today (33 at noon), but was going to forge ahead and still get an outdoor run. Well, after trying to figure out what to wear I decided to stick to the treadmill and brave it on Sunday (it's supposed to actually be colder). Waiting for some winter gear that I ordered before I'm brave enough to get out there for a long run. Last time I just went with the sweatpants, there were all sorts of issues :-) Anyhow, just confessing to wimpin' out on the run. Did get 5.15 miles in on da mill, so all is not lost for today.

One other thing. I've been slacking off on the push ups/sit ups, so I'm going to start posting them on the training log so y'all can get on my case if you don't see some numbers! Gotta get that core ready for January!

Let's not "Stretch" the Truth....

Check out this very interesting article on stretching that my work running team forwarded on to me. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/02/sports/playmagazine/112pewarm.html?_r=1

Now let's see your best "spider-man" stretch!!!!

4.25 mi treadmill run last night. I tell ya, for the first time in a while, I felt like I could have gone 5-6 miles on the TM without even thinking about it...just felt good. Part of it being that I was trying to envision the race in January....much easier now that we're so close.

Sunday Long Run

11.11 mi run in 1:29:33 (8:03 average). Colder this morning with a pretty strong head wind. Pretty much typical of all my long runs, tight to start, loose by mile 4-5, and pretty strong through the end. Felt alot better by the end of the run this time around, like I could keep pace for another couple miles. Almost there....

Thanks Heath, not sure how I forgot about Animal Kingdom. Might actually be a really good idea. Don't worry, I fairly certain that Lou doesn't read this blog ;-)

Simple Update

4.15 mile run today. Started out pretty quick and settled down into a couple of hills (up and down). Long run Sunday, 10.6 miles.

Splits:
7:40
7:42
8:03
8:04
0:45

Trip update: Made the final payment on my DVC point rental the other day (Beach Club Villas). They informed me that we're all set with our Magical Express reservations as well, so we're locked and ready to rock! Looking into my ticket options now. Might just get a 10-Day no expiration as we're going to be back down there with the family next November. Not sure I need the park hopper as I don't plan to hop this trip. Going to pick a park for a day and stick with it. Tentatively, it'll be Thursday - Studios, Friday - Magic Kingdom, Saturday - Epcot. Might do a park on Wednesday too as we get to Orlando at 9:45a and can't check in till 4pm... Any advice?

News and Notes...

Training is going okay in my camp. Speed is up as I've been running in the 8 min mile range for a few weeks now. Overall mileage is level at around 70 miles a month, but my long runs are increasing on a weekly basis (with the exception of the last two weeks cause of illness). This weekend's long run will be 10.6 miles and will increase .5 mile per long run till Jan.

Gel goo stuff... After listening to Steve and Bryan on the last couple of podcasts, I've decided to give the gel stuff a go for my long runs. Will try to incorporate them this weekend. Why the change? Well, as you might know I've struggled with the energy level in the last couple of miles for my two half marathons and want to do something to improve. The incremental addition to my long runs is part of that plan, and now trying the goo..... Steve did make the point to try it a couple of times as it might take some getting used to, so I'll be sure to try it at least twice. Any personal experience on this that you can share? I know Jonathan tried them and didn't seem to agree with him...

Props to Deb for her recent weight loss and hitting her training goals! Both you and Rae continue to inspire me on your work ethic and great attitude! Mike Fess as well for fighting through the injury situation! Mike Speed lives on!!! Shout out to Jeff W. as well....I personally call you "Mr. Steady" as you always keep an even keel throughout this process which appeals to my stead side. Long story short, you guys keep this team together with all that you bring. Thanks! (Mention to Mike Greene as well for always keeping my achievment goals in focus :-))

Quick last day of vacation recap as I hadn't done that yet.

Last day (Friday Nov. 7) spent at Magic Kingdom again.

We purposely left Tomorrowland off of our Wednesday MK visit so we could focus on that and our favorites for Friday. We were able to see Stich's no so great Escape (thumbs down from the wife and daughter), Monsters Laugh Floor (thumbs up, almost seemed too short), Buzz Lightyear (just okay after experiencing Toy Story Mania on Monday), TTA (had to give the little guy his bottle and this worked out perfect), Tomorrowland Speedway (daughter loves this, our necks...not so much!). After this run of rides, we were hungry and stopped in at Pecos Bills for a bite. Pretty much steady counter service here, but had the no backs on the chairs....the little guy was taking a nap on me and I had nothing to lean back on! We hit Splash Mountain after lunch (had a fastpass) and I was permitted to go this time (by my daughter...). Being the ride junky she is now, she wanted to sit in the front of the log, so we waited a little bit longer. She walked me through the whole ride telling me when the drops where, what was going on with Brer Rabbit/fox/bear....and of course the "Bad Birds" on the way to the big drop. Just classic!

By the time we got through all of this, it was time to do our shopping and get back to the house to pack. We did stop into the bakery on Main Streeth after shopping for some weight gain specials. We all split some kind of cherry filled pastry, a banana pudding bread thingee, and an apple pastry. There wasn't a crumb left on the tray..... Sooooo good though! After that, we headed back for a swim in the pool, packing and out to dinner. Great trip overall. However, I'm looking forward to seeing the parks without the family in January as well...will allow me to take my time and check out those things we typically blow by.

Pic of YOAMD Stuff

Figured you guys might be interested to see what the pins/lanyard look like that I got from the Dream Squad. Cool stuff.. Wonder how many of these pins they made, or more to the point if they are worth anything! ha!

Epcot...

So we weren't sure how this one was going to go as the attractions at Epcot are not really geared toward a 4 year old (or younger). Nemo/Crush, yes, and of course we hit this first. Had done this the last time we were here, so it was a known commoditiy. We had fastpassed Soarin' since my daughter is now a thrill ride junkie, apparently. I'm not going to go through the whole day, but lets just say there are good days with the kids and then there are bad days...this was one of the bad days...

The one thing I will report on is the Soarin' experience. We went back at our fastpass time (after Figment/HISTA..or at least part of it..) and decided to do the swap thing. My wife and daughter went first and I waited with my son. They came out after the ride and my daughter said she didn't want to go again, but did like it...big mistake for not wanting to ride with dear old dad.... I was waiting in the hangar line (or whatever it's actually called) and noticed some guy talking to the group in the front....then ensued some kind of cheering....he started to walk up the line with a counter clicking off the number of people in our line...uh, okay.... as the line started to move I figure it out. It was the dream squad and they were giving away prizes to our line. Too cool :-) We all got Year of a Million Dreams Pin's (2 of them) and Lanyard. Very cool as I NEVER win, well, anything! LOL One pin has Donald and Goofey and the other has Mickey and Minnie with the YOAMD logo in the middle. So my daughter would have got one if she just rode with me! ha! I'll hold onto it and perhaps when she gets a little older and into pin trading, she can have it. Wondering how many of these pins were made....maybe one of the guys knows.

Ran 4.5 today at just under 8 minutes a mile, and yes Rae, it's totally FLAT here! You should run the area where I live, if there's a half mile at the same elevation it's amazing... I think the new shoes are helping as well. Also, I do get to ride the rides, just didn't do as many since we wanted to see alot of stuff and didn't want to waste time in the swap transaction. Also, I figured that I'm going to be alone in Jan. and can see everything without having to worry about the kids :-) One more....the last two trips my wonderful wife allowed me to run off to rides while she hung with the kid/family. I'm having fun just being here, so it's all good.

Magic Kingdom Day

I know the other reviews were a bit on the long winded side, so I'll try to keep this one brief..."try" being the operative word!

Okay, so we had a 8:25a reservation at Cinderella's Royal Table, so it was "up and at them" (Simpson's reference) really early today. The plan was breakfast, fantasyland, perhaps some of frontierland, and then home for naps/lunch. Then back to it for a list of evening attractions. So how did we do?

Got to the park exactly on time, walking down Main Street by 8:15a. As many have said before, its really nice to walk in with only a couple of others and not the mob that ensues at rope drop. We had done CRT for lunch last year so I was interested to compare how they handled the breakfast crowd. Actually, breakfast was the way to go, much quicker in, food was good (normal breakfast fare, but all you can eat which was a nice twist..and not a buffet either, woohoo). Same routine for the princesses as our prior experience. We saw Belle, Aurora, Snow White, Cinderella (at the entrace for pictures) and Jasmine. Last time it was Fairy Godmother instead of Jasmine. I know it's kinda on the pricey side, but my daughter loves this one, so we'll probably ride this as long as she's into the princesses. Will most likely stick to the breakfast as well.

We were done with breakfast right at 9am and out into Fantasyland. Got on Dumbo right away (3 min wait...there's ALWAYS some kind of wait at Dumo, lol). Went over to Mickey's Philharmagic, a new one for us, and loved it. Walk right on to Peter Pan, pretty much, not bad... a little Mr. Toad in the air kinda thing, but that's not exactly a bad thing. We fastpassed Pooh and got in line to meet Ariel. Loooong line there and took about 45 min for my daughter/wife to get to her. Had to though as my daughter had her Ariel costume on..wouldn't be the same if she didn't get an autograph. My son and I rode Dumbo while they were waiting, he was laughing up a storm, thumbs up from him. He had a bottle, I had my coffee for the rest of the wait. They came out and we went to use the fastpasses. Liked what they did with the Pooh ride. Last time we were on that one it was Mr. Toads Wild Ride!

We made really good time due to short lines and such, so we took a jaunt over to Frontierland to see if my daughter would ride Big Thunder. Well, she insisted on going on Splash Mountain....figured she'd chicken out, right? Nope, she dragged my wife on and had an awesome time, crazy 4 year old... She then dragged her to Big thunder and loved that one too. Told me all about it while jumping up and down stating that she wanted to ride Splash Mountain again. It was noon though so we headed out to grab lunch and a nap. Went back for the evening, so she could ride BT and SM again. Along the way over we rode Alladin and the Jungle Cruise (just an okay skipper). Got the Teacups and the Barnstormer (2x) before sitting down at Cosmic Rays for dinner. My daughter was too funny, siging along while munching on her fries...lol We were going to stay for the fireworks, but decided not to as the little guy was getting restless and since the day went so well, we decided not to chance it. (Did I mention that we got to ride in front of the monorail as well?) Just an overall great day with a ton packed into it! Going back to MK on Friday to spend some time in tomorrowland and get in the "greatest hits" tour. Epcot tomorrow.

Sorry if this is incoherent, just trying to blurt it out there so I can relax for the rest of the evening!

Day 2 and 3

Run Update - Ran 5 miles today at 7:53/mi pace...what the....Holy fast Batman! Felt really good and the new shoes just catapult me forward! Again, it's REALLLLY flat around the house here in Kissimmee, so I'm sure that helps as well. Feels good nonetheless.

Day 2 - ADR Breakfast at Chef Mickey's then on to Animal Kingdom.

Chef Mickey's - First, the Contemporary is REALLY cool, huh? Never been close or in it prior (aside from on the monorail). Always thought it was one of those "old" hotels and not somewhere I'd like to go. Wrong! Super clean and definitely somewhere I'd like to stay. On to the review. Had a 9:20a ADR and got there at 9:15...waited 5 minutes and we were in. Nicely done on the timing front. They are doing construction there next to the hostess station (Chef Mickey's Express?) and it was pretty darn loud. Was hoping that it didn't carry over to our area, and it really didn't. We were seated by the "window" which was nice as we had a great view of the whole room from there without having to crane the head around. Characters a plenty! Mickey, Donald, Goofey, Pluto, and Minnie. All were great (as ususal), and spent a good amount of time at the table. My 11 month old loved the characters (wasn't sure how that was going to go). He turned around to someone tapping on his shoulder to have a very large mouse staring him in the face! He laughed out loud and was reaching out as if to be held. Did the same for all the other characters too (phew, as there were kids his age that didn't fare so well). Daughter loved the characters, food, etc. Food was good and plentiful although I hate buffets....just an exercise in patience with people at a buffet line....everyone following their own rules and all. What can ya do. Service was great as well, very friendly and accomodating. 4 stars for this one and something I'll do again in a heartbeat.

We spent the afternoon at the Animal Kingdom and it didn't go as well as with the Studios. The kids didn't get their naps, so it was kind of a mild meltdown for the little guy. We were able to get into the Nemo show and stayed for most of it, but were sitting in the back and not able to see very well. Looked as good as reviewed though and would like to see the whole thing next time (in better seats ;-)). Spent a good amount of time (an hour I think) at the playground in Dinoland. Also hit a couple of the kids rides there as well. No Everest this trip. Walked along the conservation trail to give the little guy some time to nap in the stroller. Lots of wildlife along the trail and was one of the more enjoyable pieces of the day. The gorrillas are pretty darn cool as well. We had fast passes for Killamanjaro, but ended up leaving as it was going to be way too much to keep the kids out till they came due. I think the plan went against us on this one, but seeing as how we never toured with an 11 month old, it's all new! Have a better strategy for tomorrow as it's Magic Kingdom day (CRT for breakfast at 8:20, some planned attractions, home for naps, back for the early evening touring).

Tuesday (today) was our planned day off so we did the playground and such. Nap schedule was in full effect as well!

Day 1 - MGM Studios

That's right, I went there...ha! It'll always be MGM to me for whatever reason.

Quick run update - Went for a 3.15 miler this morning...Love running here, totally flat! LOL Averaged 8:05/mi. Now, I'm sure I wouldn't love the heat in the summer...Just sayin'.

Anyhoo, as I said many times, this is my favorite park. Something about the movies and being part of that action has always appealed to me.

On with the quick report (have beer to attend to...). Arrived just after rope drop, much to my wifes dismay, but was able to park up front with the AAA Diamond Parking pass (sweet deal that we've used for years now). Went straight for the Toy Story Mania speed pass which listed 1:10-2:xx, wow these things go fast! Then on to the Little Mermaid.

Little Mermaid - Getting there first thing in the morning helps as we walked right in. Now, we didn't do this last year as my daughter was 3 and we had read that it could get scary with the Ursula scene and the darkness. Seeing as how she's 4 now we figured we'd give it a try. Being the free spirited little red-head she is, we just had to see Ariel. Show was well put together overall. Music was better than I thought it would be, props to the siging talent :-) Daughter wasn't scared at all either, which was AWESOME for us parents, ha! My little guy (11mos now) watched from my lap and loved the music (bopped up and down) and almost fell asleep through Usula, interestingly enough. Huge hurdle for parents with kids this age and sets the stage for the rest of the day. Also makes you feel better about dumping the boat load of cash to visit when the kids are actually enjoying it!

After the little mermaid we waited for the High School Musical 3 show only for it to be cancelled due to rain. It "rained' on and off all day, nothing that made us rush for cover, but I suppose danging around and such could be dangerous, who knows. We opted for the Great Movie Ride at this point. While I was parking the stroller....funny side story... cast member asked if she could park it for me and I said "I've got it ma'am, I'm Stroller Boy...." but I digress... While doing that my daughter was attacked by rogue chipmunks! Okay, it was Chip and Dale who were heading in from their autograph session, but I wished I was there and they all had a nice hug moment, and I missed it :-(. Great Movie ride was good, a few updates in there, but mainly the same thing I saw back in 1992 (I'm pretty sure).

Next was Playhouse Disney. My wife and daughter went alone and I walked around the whole park with the little guy who decided he wanted a nap in the stroller. Love to just walk around the parks, cool stuff. They said it was fun, daughter was more interactive during the show, again, happy to see she's enjoying herself more this time! The point is that the previous two trips (at 2 and then 3) were really good warm up trips and now she knows what to expect (even asks about things we did in the past). She went for some little Einstein meet and sign time after and we then went for lunch. No ADR here. We asked what my daughter wanted to do and it was a resounding "Turkey Leg". I've got a picture of her choppin on a turkey leg the last couple of years now, so it was nice to add another shot (will post when I can). I've done Sci-Fi and 50's Prime time in the past, but would like to do Mama Melrose and Brown Derby sometime in the future.

After lunch was the best stop of the day, Toy Story Mania. Wow, what a cool ride/game. I had my son on my lap and my wife had my daughter so we could all ride together. Nothing I didn't like about this one. I can totally see how people could ride this thing over and over again. I think my score was something in the 170k range..not bad for a first timer with a 11 month old on my lap ;-)

Went for a walk after this to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground, at least I think that's what it was... Wife and daughter went in and I strolled around with my son. Cast member standing in front of Lights, Motors, Action asked if I needed anything...said I'm just strollin' around, to which he said "it looks like you have room in that double stroller, can I join in!" I said, yeah, if you have 35 bucks! Ya know, cause a double costs 35/day now....he laughed and said "very true...". Had to get my stroller price hike dig in there. Yeah, like it was his fault, ha!

Last stop of the day was a never miss on any trip I've taken, Beauty and the Beast. However, I gotta tell ya, it wasn't good... Same show and all, but being the last, or near last, show of the day it seemed like these guys were mailing it in. I've seen this show like 5 times prior and always the first show of the day so I'm just guessing they were tired at this point, who knows. Belle was way off the music, they ARE singing this, right? Not recorded? I recall the interview with Paige O'Hare that Jonathan/Bryan did and it sounded like they did those "live". Anyhow, wasn't very good and I recommend going earlier..Probably will rethink that one next time.

Had to get out of the park by this time, kids were at their line as were we! All in all a great park experience with two little ones! We beat the system! ha!

Sorry for the long post, I'll try to be more concise as the week goes on.

We've Arrived

Hey folks, we've arrived here at WDW in one piece and feeling better. Tough flight with the two kids, but gotta say it went pretty well. Little guys was a tad restless, but that's what you get for waking him up at 4am. :-)

Settled into the house we rented, beautiful! Ended up with delivery "pizza" for dinner. Can't understand how there hasn't been a revolt down here on the pizza front.... What can ya do.

Heading to the Studios tomorrow, my personal favorite...yep, I'm whacked... ADR at Chef Mickey's Monday (I'm pretty sure). Looking forward to that one due to all the rave reviews.

Will try to get a run in tomorrow morning, if not, then perhaps in the evening...gotta go with the flow this week.

Holy Sick Batman!

One day before our Disney trip and *BAM* some kind of virus hits me like a brick last night. Got the chills, nausea, and mild aches. Needless to say the nasea came to fruition last night as well as some other unpleasantness...Not going to get into detail... Just had my first food of the day, a piece of toast, yum. Still need to vote and pack for the trip. Thankfully, my wife handles all of the kid packing.

Here's to hoping that this thing passes today/tonight! :-)

I think I can...

Was the little train that could yesterday.. Sunday was long run day, but waking up I just didn't feel like I was going to make it. Kids have been sick and up/down all night long making the sleep thing, not so much... My goal was to add .5 mile to last weeks run for a total of 10.1 miles. Well, decided to just take it easy for the first couple of miles and see how I felt. Mile 2, junk... Mile 4, getting better...Mile 5, jammin'! Soooo, I just kept it up and did the whole 10.1, woohoo! Going for 10.6 next Sunday while down in Orlando, will need to do the whole MapMyRun thing as I have no idea where I'm going (staying somehwere new).

6 days.....

One week...

Good tune, good tune.... Not to mention that it's also the duration left till vacation! Rae asked, so I figured I'd give the timeline update. :-) Been watching the videos and Tivo'd episodes of Samantha Brown's specials to get everyone in the mood. Staying off site as per the usual with the family, but we couldn't pass up the space we're going to get for the same money it would have cost on-site. Five bedroom house with a pool only a couple of minutes away from the parks, what's not to like? Having said that, I'm psyched to be staying on-site for the January trip.

Going to order the new shoes today and wil hopefully be breaking them in while in Orlando. Should get some great mileage in while down there. Pesky work always getting in the way up here...

Long run tomorrow, going to start adding a half mile to my weekly long runs (per advice from Mike Greene). Based on the horrid final 3 miles of the last half I'm looking to build my endurance in order to finish better and this is route I chose. Running the distance more often will help me know what my body is going to do when I get there and help me plan for it. At least I think it will...lets hope!

The Weather Starting Getting Rough.....

Cold is moving on in here in the NorthEast, much like I'm hearing from upstate NY, MN, and Iowa. So, pro's, I'm new at this outdoor running thing during the winter, what do I buy? I've googled winter running gear and man, there's a ton of stuff out there. Has anyone done the research and learned the lessons that can be shared? Both the wife and I would really appreciate it! Speaking of the wife, Lorraine, she's doing great! Her planter facitis seems to have been treated by the cortisone shots (for the last couple of months anyhow) and she's back up to around 4.5 mile runs (somewhere in the 9ish/mi timeframe). To recap, she's planning on being up to full speed for the 2010 half marathon. Very proud of her fighting through this foot issue as she nearly took a header down a flight of stairs (carrying our son) because of it, but I'm not going to get into all of that. She's one determined person for sure. :-)

Any winter running gear advice would be awesome, thanks folks!

So far, so good..

Training is up this month, feel motivated by the so-so performance I put in at the Hartford Half-Marathon as well as the proximity to the Disney Half. Getting close and can feel it, but need this kind of month in November, December, and early January if I want to meet my goals. :-)

Starting to like working from home a bit more (from time to time that is). It allows me to get a good run in every time where it's hit and miss when I'm at the office. My home course is also a lot more challenging as well. Did 5 miles during lunch today and feel pretty good overall.

Ordering new shoes in the next day or so, these are definitely starting to break down on me. Going with the same make/model as they have served me well in the middle part of this year.

Congrats to all on the Corn-Vator run! and especially to those that ran the half marathon over the weekend! Kate and Jeff W. I believe, right? Great job guys!

Stroller Boy v. Corn-Vator

Yeah, I realize that it's Darth Vader, but ya see what I did there... Corn Elevator....huh, huh... ;-)

Anyhoo, went for my corn elevator of death run this afternoon and completed 9.6 miles in 1:24:27. Not too shabby. Wasn't looking for any kind of speed here as I still feel I'm recovering form the half last week.

Anyhoo, best of luck to the rest of you on your runs this weekend!

Stretch Goals

and no, I don't mean your goals on how much stretching you want to do, although that could be an interesting topic...

At work we have what we know as "stretch goals" and they denote those goals that are not the day to day operational tasks, but those that might be realized if the stars were aligned. As in "full implementation and roll out of a major system within a year". Probably not attainable, but with super smart planning, the right people, and a little luck....it could happen. These aren't things we get "dinged" for as long as we meet the operational goal, but something that goes on your record and toward excellerated promotion and such.

Anyhow, enough of the IT crap... I thought this priniciple could apply to training goals. So, if you have ONE stretch goal for the race in January, what would it be? Mine.... averaging 8:30/mi for the whole race. It's a stretch in that it's nearly 25 seconds a mile cut in my last two half marathon averages and I'm resigning to the fact that I'm going to have to work with only 3-4 runs (more likely 3) a week for training between now and then.

What's your stretch goal? :-)